Trump Administration Redirects Nearly 500 Million Toward HBCUs, Charters and Tribal Colleges

Washington, D.C. — In a bold reallocation of federal education funding, the Trump administration announced Monday that it will channel nearly 500 million dollars toward historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges, charter schools, and patriotic education initiatives.

Officials say this funding shift comes from cutting programs previously aimed at minority students in other settings. Among the most significant reductions are grants for science, engineering and other programs for minority serving institutions, as well as funding for magnet schools and gifted and talented programs.

As part of the change, HBCUs and tribal colleges will see roughly a 48 percent boost relative to earlier budget plans. Tribal colleges are slated to receive about 108 million dollars which is about double what they were expecting this year.

Charter schools will also benefit with their funding being increased by approximately 13 percent. At the same time, funds for certain programs that have traditionally supported minority students are being cut. For example, more than 350 million dollars will be removed from minority serving institution grants focused on science and engineering.

Another key component of the reallocation is a significant increase for history and civics education. That category will receive an additional 137 million dollars bringing its funding up substantially.

Supporters of the increased HBCU funding argue the boost is long overdue. HBCUs serve large populations of low income students and have historically faced underfunding according to advocates.

Critics warn that this kind of reallocation may pit minority serving institutions and their programs against one another. They express concern that removing resources from gifted, magnet, or minority science programs could harm students who rely on those services.

The Trump administration is defending the move as part of its strategy to shift support toward programs it deems more effective and more directly connected to its priorities including what it calls patriotic education.

These budget changes are described as a one time infusion and apply to the current fiscal year which ends September 30.